Roger Allen bounced from tourney

Sunday

Jul 29, 2007 at 6:23 AMJul 29, 2007 at 6:27 AM

By John DoyleStaff Sports Writer

ROCHESTER — Having played three games in less than 23 hours on the heels of seven games in five days a week earlier, the Roger Allen All-Star baseball team was simply out of gas on Saturday during the 10-year-old Cal Ripken New England Regional tournament.

As a result, Roger Allen lost twice — 5-1 to Kingston, Mass., and 2-1 to Andy Valley (Maine) — and is eliminated from the tournament it is hosting at Roger Allen Park.

"I think the kids ran out of gas," Roger Allen coach Gary Jewell said. "We gave the kids a few days off after the state tournament, but I don't think it was enough. The bats were slow. We weren't hitting like we were up in the states."

Roger Allen (1-2) lost a heartbreaker to Andy Valley in the elimination game, giving up two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Christian Anderson pitched all six innings brilliantly for Roger Allen, and deserved a better fate as both runs were the result of errors and thus unearned.

Justin Jewell was 3 for 3 against Andy Valley, and scored the go-ahead run in the third inning. He led off the inning with a double and was plated by Anthony DiPrizio, who also hit a double. Loukas Brigham had a single in that inning.

Andy Valley, which beat Hudson, Mass., by a 5-1 score just before it faced Roger Allen, will face Danbury, Conn., in the losers' bracket semifinal today at noon.

Roger Allen, which beat North Country (Vt.) 12-1 on Friday night, had an early wake-up call on Saturday when it had to face Kingston, Mass., in the winners' bracket semifinals. The morning got off to a good start for Roger Allen as Anderson led off with a walk, then came around to score when Brendon Scheffer hit a single to left.

Scheffer pitched well for Roger Allen, throwing five innings and giving up six hits. He allowed one walk in the first inning but got the final batter to ground into a 1-6-3 double play to end it.

Kingston (2-0) put up one run in the second, when Harry Cornell crossed the plate on a Roger Allen error. In the third, Kingston came up with two big hits — Nathan Youssef (2 for 2, run) hit a one-out double, and then Adam Gay hit a home run over the fence in right-center field, giving Kingston a 3-1 lead.

In the fifth, Kingston put up two more runs. Gay reached on a fielders choice, which scored Liam Smith, then was plated by Cornell, who hit a single to right.

"It's nice to be in the winners' bracket, because you get a little time off," Kingston coach Mike Pakalnis said. "The kids can keep their confidence up. Our pitching's been really good, that's what got us here."

Kingston used three pitchers — Gay, who started and threw one inning, Cornell and Youssef.

Smith, playing in place of Kingston's starting shortstop, who was sick with the flu, was an excellent defensive replacement, making a number of solid plays at short.

Roger Allen was unable to get the big hit. It went down 1-2-3 in the second and fifth innings and only managed one baserunner in the third and sixth. In the fifth, Jewell reached on a two-out single and Mitchell Cyr reached on an error, but the next Roger Allen Batter struck out.

"The kids played great," Gary Jewell said. "They're 10 years old, and they made some mistakes, but they battled."

Kingston will face New Hampshire state champion Amherst today at 3 in the winners' bracket final. The winner advances to Tuesday's championship round, which is scheduled to start at 5:30.

The New Hampshire state champion team from Amherst advanced to today's winners' bracket final with a 9-0 thumping of West Warwick, R.I.

Cam DeVanney pitched a complete-game one-hitter, while recording two RBIs. Ben Osterholtz played a good defensive game at first base.

Amherst faces Kingston, Mass., in today's winners' bracket final.

Danbury, Conn., 7, West Warwick, R.I., 5

Danbury, Conn., showed West Warwick, R.I., the door in losers' bracket action Saturday afternoon. Elijah Duffy amassed three hits and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. Steven Leone was the winning pitcher, surrendering zero runs and one hit in four innings of work.

Danbury was a 20-0 winner over North Country (Vt.) in earlier losers' bracket action on Saturday, and faces Andy Valley (Maine) in today's losers' bracket semifinal (noon).

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